Interoperability between computer systems, sub-systems, and various other data processing devices is becoming increasingly important, as for example, in such areas as aerospace, defense, and homeland security. The ability to communicate between diverse system and component technologies is generally a high priority goal for both government and commercial entities. Moreover, the widespread use of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) products in conjunction with standardized software protocols offers an opportunity for non-commercial users, such as government/military, to maintain pace with COTS technology development in order to achieve the benefits of the technology and the concomitant reduction in overall life-cycle costs. The evolving paradigm designated “network centric operations” (NCO) is based on the concept of compatible information-sharing between multiple diverse “systems”, such as aircraft, vehicles, command centers, robotic devices and/or human-operated computing devices in order to accomplish a desired task. For example, NCO communication capabilities could be used to identify a military target, provide data to a central command from multiple field positions, monitor the activities of widespread remote personnel, receive images and data from spacecraft devices, and so forth.
For a typical system in an NCO network, one of the most commonly used data gathering devices is a sensor that is configured for a particular application. That is, for a system to measure parameters (e.g., temperature, velocity, etc.), or to capture images or sounds, or to monitor almost any type of activity, some form of specialized sensor device is generally incorporated into the system in order to interface with and monitor the activity of interest. For the sensor device to perform its monitoring function efficiently, a dedicated (client) software application is typically interfaced with the sensor device via the system infrastructure. Because of the wide diversity of sensor device types and applications, the dedicated client software applications may require specialized interfacing infrastructures for the satisfactory transmission of information between applications and sensor devices. In addition, the specialized interfacing software is typically dependent on the specific characteristics of the sensor hardware. As such, the interfacing software development phase is generally inhibited from completion until after the sensor hardware has been fully developed. This “serial” type of design/development sequence can be relatively lengthy, as compared to a “parallel” design sequence, and can lead to undesirable system development delays. Moreover, the use of specialized interfaces can be relatively costly, especially in complex system environments with numerous types of sensors.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a standardized sensor interface infrastructure that is independent of the specific sensor design or application. In addition, it is desirable to provide a standardized sensor interface infrastructure that is compatible with COTS technology. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.